An operating voltage applied to a transmitter's power amplifier in a mobile wireless transceiver is dynamically controlled so as to improve the efficiency of the transmitter at all output power levels. In one embodiment, the bias current levels within the transmitter are also varied to optimize the efficiency of the transmitter at all output power levels. In a preferred embodiment, a highly efficient switching regulator is controlled by a control circuit to adjust the operating voltage and/or bias current for the power amplifier in the transmitter. The control circuit has as its input any of a variety of signals which reflect the actual output power of the transmitter, the desired output power, or the output voltage swing of the transmitter.
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6. A method for controlling a wireless device comprising:
amplifying a signal for transmission by the wireless device, said amplifying performed in an amplifier including at least one transistor; sampling the signal transmitted by the amplifier; controlling a voltage regulator that receives a voltage input from a battery of the wireless device, wherein the voltage regulator sources a first variable voltage signal that is applied across the terminals of the at least one transistor, said first variable voltage signal being dependent on the sampled signal; and controlling a bias circuit that provides a second variable voltage signal to an input of the at least one transistor, said second variable voltage signal being dependent on the sampled signal.
5. A method for controlling a wireless device comprising:
amplifying a signal for transmission by the wireless device, said amplifying performed in an amplifier including at least one transistor; receiving a first signal from another transmitting device; controlling a voltage regulator that receives a voltage input from a battery of the wireless device, wherein the voltage regulator sources a first variable voltage signal that is applied across terminals of the at least one transistor, said first variable voltage signal being dependent on the first signal; and controlling a bias circuit that provides a second variable voltage signal to an input of the at least one transistor, said second variable voltage signal being dependent on the first signal.
1. A mobile wireless device comprising:
an amplifier connected to receive an input signal to be transmitted by the mobile wireless device, said amplifier having an amplifier output terminal, said amplifier including at least one transistor; a voltage regulator having an input terminal coupled to receive a dc voltage provided by a battery, and an output voltage terminal that sources a first variable voltage signal across terminals of a transistor of the amplifier; a bias voltage generator that generates a second variable voltage signal that is provided to an input of a transistor of the amplifier; and a controller having an input terminal connected to receive a first signal related to an output level of said amplifier, wherein the controller provides a second signal to the voltage regulator that determines the first variable voltage signal, and a third signal to the bias voltage generator that determines the second variable voltage signal, wherein the second and third signals are dependent on a value of the first signal.
3. The mobile wireless device of
4. The mobile wireless device of
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This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/843,107, filed on Apr. 25, 1997 entitled "Battery Life Extending Technique For Mobile Wireless Applications," now U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,220, issued on Nov. 14, 2000, and incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to wireless transmitters and, in particular, to a technique for extending the battery life in such a transmitter.
Extending battery life is a key concern for users and manufacturers of cellular telephones and other portable transceivers. A powerful signal generated and transmitted by the wireless transceiver draws more power from the battery than when a lower power signal is generated and transmitted. Accordingly, a number of prior art techniques have been employed to adjust the gain of a portable transmitter so as to not transmit a signal more powerful than necessary for adequate communications. Examples of such ways of automatically adjusting the output power level of a transmitter are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,760,347, 5,129,098, and 5,446,756, incorporated herein by reference.
Although the prior art techniques selectively reduce the output power of the transmitter, the efficiency of the transmitter is not improved by the prior art methods. The transmitter is typically biased, and operating voltages are set, so that the transmitter output signal will not distort in an adverse way at the highest expected output signals. These worse case operating conditions can draw significant power from the battery even when no signal is being transmitted. Such worst case operating conditions are not required when the transmitter is not transmitting its maximum signal. Hence, the transmitter's efficiency is lower when transmitting lower power output signals. A lower efficiency equates to wasting battery power, reducing talk time.
What is needed is a technique for extending the battery life in mobile wireless applications.
A technique is described herein which dynamically reduces the operating voltage applied to a transmitter's power amplifier in a mobile wireless transceiver so as to increase the efficiency of the transmitter when the transmitter is not outputting its maximum output power. Thus, the total power consumption of the transmitter is reduced as compared to prior art transmitters. In another embodiment, the bias voltage or bias current levels within the transmitter are also varied to optimize the efficiency of the transmitter at a particular output power level. This technique of controlling the transmitter's operating voltage and bias voltage/current may be used in conjunction with conventional techniques for automatically reducing the gain of the transmitter.
In a preferred embodiment, a highly efficient switching regulator is controlled by a control circuit to adjust the operating voltage and bias voltage/current for the power amplifier in the transmitter. The control circuit has as its input any of a variety of signals which reflect the actual output of the transmitter or the desired output power of the transmitter.
Controller 14 receives a signal at an input terminal 16 which signifies the actual output power of the power amplifier 10, the desired output power of amplifier 10, or a measure of the output voltage swing of amplifier 10. Controller 14 then sets, based on this input signal, the output voltage Vdd of regulator 12 such that amplifier 10 will operate under its most efficient conditions for the particular output power level.
Controller 14 also, optionally, provides a bias voltage or bias current control signal to amplifier 10 via line 20 to adjust the bias current or voltage levels in amplifier 10 for optimum efficiency at a particular output power level.
When amplifier 10 is outputting its maximum power level, the output voltage Vpa swing of amplifier 10 is a maximum, and amplifier 10 operates with relatively high efficiency. The various transistors and other components in amplifier 10 are biased and otherwise operated so as not to introduce significant distortion into the output signal. As the output power is reduced, the output voltage swing and current drawn from battery 15 are reduced. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, because of the reduced output voltage swing, the operating voltage vdd provided to amplifier 10 by regulator 12 is reduced, without introducing distortion, to save additional power.
Further, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, as the power output level is reduced, the bias voltages and currents are also reduced, without introducing distortion, to save additional power.
Power consumption is the product of the RMS voltage and current drawn from battery 15. Hence, by reducing the RMS voltage to amplifier 10, power consumption is reduced beyond that provided by prior art power consumption techniques. Because cellular telephones generally operate at less than full power most of time, using the invention shown in
A matching network 24 (e.g., a resonant circuit) interfaces the output of amplifier 10 to a load RL. Load RL may be an antenna or other load. An input signal generator 26 generates a modulated RF signal Vin in a conventional way and may include automatic gain control circuitry.
In
Controller 42 may be coupled to a feedback terminal 43 of regulator 12, where the feedback signal Vfb has a predetermined relationship with the voltage on lead 32. Thus, controller 42 may simply be a level shifter or suitable amplifier. By appropriate design of the power detector 30, the feedback terminal 43 of regulator 12 may instead be directly connected to lead 32, so that the power detector 30 acts as the controller. The relationship between the input of controller 42 and the output of controller 42 is to be determined based upon the particular regulator 12 and power amplifier 10 used.
Some cellular telephones and other wireless transceivers already employ an output power detector for another purpose, and, thus, the present invention may be easily incorporated into such devices.
Regulator 12 may be any conventional high-efficiency switching regulator which provides an output voltage based upon a feedback signal, as is well-known in the art. In conventional voltage regulator circuits, the feedback terminal of a regulator is connected to a divided regulated output voltage.
The voltage at node 54 is applied to one input terminal of an amplifier 60, and a reference voltage 62 is applied to another input terminal. The output of amplifier 60 is applied to the feedback terminal of regulator 12. In response, regulator 12 provides an operating voltage Vdd to amplifier 10 so as to maintain the voltage at node 54 at approximately Vref. If Vref is held fixed, then controller 50 acts to regulate the minimum voltage across the amplifier 10 output transistor(s) needed to avoid adverse distortion, thus optimizing the amplifier's efficiency at all output power levels. The technique of
In another embodiment, shown in
Other forms of controllers would be suitable depending upon the specific transmitter to be controlled.
The drain of transistor Q2 provides the output Vpa of amplifier 10. A second variable bias voltage generator 108, controlled by controller 14 in
The operating conditions of transistors Q1 and Q2 must be set so that the voltage swings and/or drain currents of transistors Q1 and Q2 are not distorted in an unacceptable way. The adjustable bias voltages Vbias1 and Vbias2 as well as voltages Vdd1 and Vdd2 are therefore dynamically controlled to avoid such distortion of the signals provided by transistors Q1 and Q2. Suitably controlling the operating conditions using the present invention results in less battery power being wasted through the various conduction paths.
The variable voltage sources (e.g., controllable regulators) used for sources 106 and 108 may be conventional. The particular bias voltages needed at various output power levels are determined on a case-by-case basis depending upon the particular amplifier and application.
The controller 14 (
In the example shown in
A power amplifier using bipolar technology may also utilize the present invention, where the collector-emitter voltage Vce of the amplifier's transistor(s) is regulated to be a minimum needed to operate the transistor(s) at all output levels without distortion. Such an amplifier may replace the MESFET transistors Q1 and Q2 in
This technique of dynamically adjusting the operating conditions in an amplifier may be applied to many forms of power amplifiers, and the particular type of controller used will depend upon the method which will provide the most efficient use of battery power at a reasonable cost. Many of the circuits which generate the input to controller 14 (
It is expected that the present invention will increase the battery life of cellular telephones and other wireless transceivers by as much as 50% or more. In some applications, it is anticipated that battery life will be at least doubled using the present invention.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.
Taylor, Stewart S., Sharp, Steven J., Hammond, Samuel W., Ruebusch, Ronald R.
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